Sunday, July 15, 2012

PC POST #70: SDCC 2012 - Punisher War Zone

Hi Punisher fans, here goes more hot news about the newest arc in October Punisher: War Zone.

By Jim Beard

The
acclaimed team of writer Greg Rucka and artist Marco Checchetto kick
off October with a new Punisher series sporting a classic name. PUNISHER
WAR ZONE, a five-issue limited series, details the bloody aftermath of
PUNISHER #15 and #16 in which Frank Castle must face off with the
Avengers in a death-match that anyone who survives may regret.

“The
question is, of course, what do you do with a ‘Problem Named Castle?’”
asks Rucka. “Without giving too much away, let's just say that events in
PUNISHER #15 and PUNISHER #16 go big enough that Earth's Mightiest
Heroes can no longer hope the ‘Castle problem’ will take care of itself.
At a certain point, they have to take responsibility for allowing Frank
to have run as he has for so long.

“That point is now, and the time has come to do something about it.”

The
writer promises that Frank Castle’s view of his world and the threats
therein remains habitually long-range and super hero intervention exists
as simply another battle to win in his overall personal war.

“If
you've been looking carefully at the background of Frank's ‘garage,’
you'll have noted he's been collecting bits and pieces down through the
years, pieces of tech and salvage that he can repurpose,” the writer
notes. “Some of them have obvious use, some less so, but that's not
really his arsenal at all.

“The
primary weapon in Frank's arsenal is his mind. He is a careful planner,
and a long-thinker. To imagine he hasn't known this day would come
eventually is to do him a disservice. Weapons? Of course he has them. Of
course he knows how to use them. But, more crucially, he knows when to use them.”

Rucka’s not too keen
on tipping his hand yet concerning exactly which costumed champions
will appear in PUNISHER WAR ZONE, but he’ll drop a hint or two when
pressed.

“Spider-Man
and Frank have a long history, obviously, and a recent meeting in the
Omega Effect [crossover] to call back to,” he says. “The meeting between
Wolverine and Frank is one I've had in my mind ever since I began work
on PUNISHER, honestly, and it's not going to be the face-off people
expect. I'm leery of saying more because I really don't want to give
anything away, but I will add that there is one Avenger that can
neutralize Frank with three words alone.”

And
with a story like this, readers can expect much more than physical
confrontations in PUNISHER WAR ZONE. Expect a style of warfare unique to
the character as he’s become known to his legion of fans.

“Honestly,
everyone and their cousin has seen the traditional ‘two heroes beat
each other to pulp,’ and that just won't work with Frank,” Rucka says.
“Against almost any Avenger, head-to-head, he's going to be going down.
One of the things I'm most excited about for this is showing the
different takes on Frank and what he does, and the different approaches
and arguments about how to effectively solve the ‘Castle problem.’ I
don't want to presume it as arrogance, but the Avengers, when they
decide to act, they think they're getting into one thing, and they
discover it's something very different.

“Because
Frank, while he almost certainly knows he will ultimately lose, he's
not going to make it easy, and he's not going to go quietly.”

Standing
with the writer on this sojourn, artist Marco Checchetto completes the
Punisher picture in a way that pleases Rucka to no end.

“PUNISHER WAR ZONE wouldn't
be happening if Marco wasn't aboard; it's as simple as that,” he
explains. “I just wouldn't do it. This is the story we've been heading
towards since our PUNISHER #1 in so many ways, and it's the end of a
long, long journey for the both of us. I couldn't ask for a better
collaborator or partner in this; what he and [colorist] Matt
Hollingsworth have done on PUNISHER is so far above and beyond what I
could have dreamt of at the start.

“Marco’s
art has gotten stronger and stronger with every passing issue he's
drawn, and I've always felt he was tremendously talented at the start.
This is a chance for him to uncork and play with the full palette, for
lack of a better phrase; from the dirty streets to the clean skies, from
Frank's blood and bone to Thor's thunder, you know?”